Gaokao cheats targeted nationwide

Provinces and cities are using a variety of new measures, including drones, to prevent cheating as one of the most important exams in China - the annual gaokao, or national college entrance exam - approaches.

In Guangzhou, Guangdong province, watches with storage functions have been banned from examination halls this year, Yangcheng Evening News reported.

Previously, watches - most of them being quartz or mechanical - were allowed to be taken into the halls to remind candidates of the time.

However, the arrival of smart watches, which can store and send information, has increased the possibility of students using them to cheat.

Lin Qiasheng, director of Guangzhou's Examination and Recruitment Office, was quoted by the newspaper as saying, "We will keep such watches out of the examination halls this year, as we do with mobile phones."

The gaokao, which determines the university that a student can attend, is treated by the candidates and their parents as a life-changing event. Each year, some students are caught cheating.

This year's exam, which starts on Sunday morning, will be taken by at least 9 million students across the country.

In Henan province, the education authorities have ruled that stationery must be handed out to candidates in the examination halls, and they cannot use their own.

In Luoyang, Henan, drones will be used during this year's gaokao to catch and track wireless signals that may help students cheat.

Liu Hongbo, a 46-year-old Beijing resident whose son is taking the gaokao, said he appreciated the ever-changing regulations and devices to prevent cheating.

"This is necessary, because for an exam that affects students' future development, equity should be guaranteed," he said.

But Chu Zhaohui, a senior researcher at the National Institute of Education Sciences, said, "These measures to prevent cheating are just technical."

Chu added that the ways in which candidates can cheat are also constantly changing and are more advanced than the preventive measures.

"A more sensible approach is to reform gaokao itself - for example, to give different examination papers to different candidates, making it more difficult or even futile for them to cheat," he said.

Cheating in exams is also a common concern globally. In South Korea, each exam supervisor carries a detector to determine whether candidates have brought any electronic equipment into the examination hall, according to China National Radio.